Guatemalan Sweet Cakes

In Mexico, a quesadilla is more like what we think of as a grilled cheese sandwich, but with tortillas instead of bread. In Guatemala, these sweet little cheese things are like buttery cupcakes, and they are baked as special-occasion treats for children who've had a good report card or lost a tooth.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line muffin cups.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in cheese. Mix in flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

Divide among nine muffin cups (a slightly rounded 1/4-cup batter each). Bake until pale golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on a rack 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool to warm.

Cooks' notes:
· Cakes are best eaten the day they are made.
· Cakes can also be baked in lined mini-muffin pans for 30 minutes; recipe yields 30 mini muffins.

my notes

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Recent Review

These quezadillas are street foods
also. They are a regional food that
is very popular mostly in the Zacapa
area, not Guatemala City. This may
be the reason why the other reviewer
may not know about them (though it
is hard to
think a Guatemalan would not know
this!). The quezadillas are
delicious especially when they are
steaming hot. The rice fluor makes a
difference in the taste and it is
what distinguishes them. I wish I
knew where to find it in the US. As
a Guatemalan, I am
glad to see our recipes making their
way into the US consciousness as
Guatemalan recipes, not Mexican. By
the way, there is also a recipe for
Guatemalan Corn Bread. This version
is very moist, almost but not quite
like a cake. It is simply delicious.